28 January 2018 1:18 AM

The US has a long history of wiping its feet all over us. So why are we still desperate to be Donald's doormat?

This is Peter Hitchens's Mail on Sunday column

Why does the Prime Minister think it does her good to be seen with that global embarrassment, Donald Trump? Why do politicians and media commentators in Britain prattle about how the ‘Special Relationship’ between Britain and the USA is still flourishing?

This is dangerous fantasy. The United States is not, and never has been, our special friend. Sometimes it has been our ally. Sometimes it has been very close to being our enemy, especially in Ireland (almost all the time) and during the Suez Crisis in 1956, when the US Navy’s chiefs discussed opening fire on the Royal Navy.

I don’t complain about this. The USA does what we should do. It looks after itself first. It is a separate country with different interests from ours. It is not a Big England. We owe them a lot of money. We defaulted on our enormous First World War debts to the US (£866 million at the time, worth about £225 billion at today’s values) back in 1934. Contrary to popular belief, we have never paid this back. We only very recently paid our Second World War debts to America.

For the best explanation of the relations between the two countries, read what President Woodrow Wilson said at a banquet at Buckingham Palace on December 27, 1918, soon after our joint victory over Germany six weeks before.

‘You must not speak of us who come over here as cousins, still less as brothers; we are neither. Neither must you think of us as Anglo-Saxons, for that term can no longer be rightly applied to the people of the US. Nor must too much importance in this connection be attached to the fact that English is our common language… no, there are only two things which can establish and maintain closer relations between your country and mine: they are community of ideals and interests.’

I do wish that everyone in British politics, journalism and diplomacy would read and remember these words. Wilson was a fairly nasty piece of work who made a terrible mess of Europe and pretty much caused the Second World War. But he spoke the truth.

And it seems to me that France’s Charles de Gaulle, who was always prickly and unhelpful to the USA, and who was disliked by them in return, did a far better job for his country than our post-war leaders did for ours.

Our endless sucking up to Washington gets us very little worth having. If we told Donald Trump we were in fact not very keen to host a visit by him, he would give us more than if we abased ourselves before him. Doormat diplomacy, such as we now engage in with the USA, will always end with them wiping their feet on us.

***

Who'd be brave enough to tell this story today?

The Vietnam War was the background noise of my young manhood, and I am now amazed to find that I, a poorly informed teenage troublemaker, had a better idea of what was going on than the US government’s official spokesmen. Mind you, they were lying, as governments so often do.

I can also remember when the newspaper business was still in its raucous prime. I loved the gleaming process by which words were set in metal, forged into huge curved plates, clamped on to enormous presses and sent out into the world by fleets of midnight vans. I can remember my desk beginning to tremble as those presses accelerated to top speed, many floors beneath.

And I once had the great privilege of living in Washington DC, that beautiful white marble graveyard of ideals. Plus, I could happily watch Meryl Streep doing the dusting, she is so good at what she does.

So I am perhaps the ideal audience for the new film The Post, about The Washington Post’s very brave decision in 1971 to publish the truth about Vietnam in face of a real danger that they might be shut down for ever by a vindictive Richard Nixon. But even if you don’t share my taste in films, consider this.

The days when newspapers had that sort of concentrated power to defy authority are coming to an end. The internet, all too easily censored and manipulated, is taking over. Without strong newspapers, all the forces of liberty and law are weaker. Is it nostalgia to wish their decline hadn’t happened?

***

Wandering through a world of silent tragedy

Are old people our real underclass? I am distressed by the small coverage given last week to an all-party parliamentary report on hunger. It dwells on the plight of the old, lonely and poor, and suggests that 1.3 million older people in this country are malnourished. This isn’t always caused by poverty alone. Sometimes it is the result of loneliness.

The report tells of one woman who was found by a visitor not to have eaten a proper meal for nine weeks, another who had shrunk to 6st over months of quiet suffering. It says some pensioners are turning off their lights and heating, except when they know they are about to have visitors. A Meals on Wheels volunteer recorded the case of one old man who switched off his Christmas tree lights as soon as the meal service staff left his flat.

Perhaps most distressing of all is the case of a man in his 90s, banned from his local supermarket because he had twice suffered falls there. They said he was too much of a threat to their liability insurance.

This last case is a study in miniature of the institutional callousness of much of modern Britain, and the general terror of lawsuits caused by the Thatcher and Major governments’ shameful licensing of ambulance-chasing lawyers.

But the whole report made me wonder how often I pass people in the street who are concealing this sort of desperation, and how close I myself might be living to such silent tragedies. We tend to assume that we have some sort of safety net for all. Increasingly, I think this is no longer true.

***

The Russians are coming! They’re going to make us all starve! Or they’re going to cut all our cables! Are they?

I’m glad if this stuff makes people think about our neglected conventional defences, which badly need money. But the Russian threat is a foolish bogeyman. Despite irresponsible headlines, which give this impression, Russian planes do not fly into our airspace, and Russian warships don’t violate our waters, nor do the RAF or the Navy ‘scramble’ to ‘intercept’ them. They just go and look at them, going about their legal business.

Unless we cause it by provoking it, there is no conceivable reason for a war between this country and Russia, which couldn’t afford to be an aggressive power even it wanted to.

***

On a visit to the fascinating historic dockyard in Chatham, I stopped for a cup of tea and had one of those moments when only a KitKat would do to accompany it.

Who’d have thought this would be a problem in such a thoroughly British place? But no, there were no KitKats – just a selection of quinoa bars, which I have only just learned to pronounce (keen-wah) and did not want. A word to whoever’s fault this was. I’m very happy to try to be reasonably healthy, but you can keep your quinoa bars. I bought and consumed a revenge KitKat as soon as I could, just to spite the health police.

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Martin
Yes, it's very sad, Blair went down that route. Sad for so many who would have thrived and used trades skills to earn a good living and have the capabikity of overtime, that helped the aspirations of many a working class family, led to many running their own firms etc.
Tradesmen, the heart of a working class community.. Sadly Blair didn't get that and started sad changes,

"Poo watch"....I'm imagining Blair's conference song, " Things can only get better" in this case sung by those on custody duty!
If this comment makes it, will see you on more recent articles I'm sure.

You are right, Blair has a lot to answer for and they should focus on apprenticeships rather than rip-off degrees so people can end up stacking shelves in Aldi. "Poo watch!" My goodness I've never heard of it - isn't that a complication of Tony Blair's best ever speeches?

Why do you automatically assume I see the Hun being hungry for (economic) power as a negative thing? I do not, but I do see the EU as the perfect vehicle for retaining that supremacy and I don't like it and see no reason to accept it as a rule of nature. It's not.

According to latest figures, 2017 saw the highest levels of foreign investment in the UK's history. The UK's food exports hit a 22bn pound record high, with 21 million of chocolate sales to Belgium, 85 million pounds sale of cheese to France and 2 million ponds worth of tea to China. If we can do that now what makes Remainers like yourself think we can't do the same or better outside the EU? Because you want Brexit to fail, that's why. The Germans aren't my enemy here.

Martin
I guess as a mum and grandma I'm used to a lot of potty training!!
I'm of the, " sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me", generation.

Words which tie up police manpower now.
Talking of which, we have, " poo watch ", now.
Police waiting for drugs to appear.from a male in Custody in neighbouring Essex.
Just broke the record. It's a 23 day wait.
Now you never heard such a thing in my younger years. Hardly progress is it?
Like you don't hear much of Ex lax now.
Still I guess it's against human rights to get things moving!

Martin
I see Labour are to hold a conference for younger members, but deliberately excluding white heterosexual males. It was covered in Sky Press preview last night. In today's Mail.
I've been saying for a long time that working class males are being left behind.
I was listening to Claire Fox from Academy of Ideas, on Newsnight.
She's for Brexit too.
I tend to agree with when she says we now have identity politics, which is not good, but that the identity now falling behind is the working class.
Too many young men who in my youth, left school at 15 to go into in work apprenticeships are floundering and lacking in skills, perhaps attention at home, absent or working parents or in substance abuse households.
A whole skill set of future plumbers, electricians, plasterers, etc., are now the x box generation.
A generation, whose parents use credit, but whose young are bought everything, but do not understand the value of money nor have the earning capacity to have the lifestyle, looks, sold to them and their parents.
While young men used to have apprenticeships, apprenticeship wages, pay some to mum. Gain skill on the job, college . Have the capacity to earn and enter the adult world of buying and standing on own two feet.
Earn good money. Do overtime.
The failure has been when Tony Blair pushed 50% university places and opened the doors to workers undercutting day rates.
I know that there was no one to take a building course a few years ago when halping a young male.
Cheaper to have those already trained abroad.
I would also say working class females have been let down, because modern politics does not like the traditional family.
Older women have now unfairly had pension age accelerated. W.ASPIE, women. Those like me born mid 50's.
Funnily enough I'm okay because I have traditional marriage, but many women are not fine, on their own too.
So when some women got the vote as well as working class males, not all female MP's stand up for either sex, in all cases.

Power hungry hun? My goodness, it's a long time since I read that sort of thing, Kevin, and I certainly don't remember it's appearance in pre-referendum discussions. Some, and for obvious reasons, I'm unable to provide a figure, might agree with you, whilst the eyebrows of others reach for the sky. Whether the demise of the power hungry might placate some, I feel others would be somewhat disturbed by your sentiment, particularly if the reward were to be a period of economic pain.

Mr Hitchin, would you be good enough to find out why NONE of my inoffensive posts are never posted? My account shows "none" in the log, when I try to post regulalrly.
Today, two on Mr Soros..........nada !
Pretending to support free speech and behaving this way is insulting and leaves one to wonder about "Editorial independence?"
I read your column in the phsical paper, going up the gym now, read it later !
Thanks?
Tom

Hi Peter
I am assuming you must have read Douglass Reed The Controversy of Zion and The Prince Machiaivelli.
Much of what you say has echos from this material.
My view is that everything is far more sinister much like Rhe Matrix
Good work anyway.
H

What I think would be funny, even darkly humorous, would be if the outcome of the whole shenanigan depended on the fate of one small getting-on-in-years lady in Germany, rather than the well-honed (I'm joking here) plans and combined efforts of our brave leaders in Westminster!

Mrs. B, "Of course one glaring omission yesterday was that the working class male also got a vote."

Yes I don't think the modern feminists care about that. They say it's a crisis of masculinity, I don't think this is true. It's what's happened within society to repress the working man and punish them for the historical actions of others. It's true that in the past society was very male dominated but we've moved far on. Now we enter a time where young working men are alienated and in a way becoming the most discriminated against group in society as if to try and reverse history. Young men now are labeled many things as homophobes for simply stating they are hetrosexual, stopped and searched on appearance, discounted from jobs because women are supposedly better at admin, told they don't work as hard as immigrants, or in schools they have a disorder such as ADHD or OCD, or are suspected of being criminals when they shop in a store, or racists if they want to leave the EU .

This has been going on for some time, I myself as a student was stopped on my way to college by a police officer and told I looked like a burglar. My simple reply was, 'what does a burglar look like officer? I cannot entertain theft and is something I would never do as it is morally wrong. I was also followed around a store every day on my lunch break by a security guard until one day he, with no reason, stopped me to search my bag. The next day I saw an old man leave the same store in a hurry and activate the alarm yet the guard was nowhere in sight. Today, I was at the checkout in Waitrose and handed the cashier £10. I was surprised to receive a few coins back having only spent £1.90. I politely told the cashier I had paid £10 but she disputed this. When I persisted in telling her she made out I was lying. In the end another member of staff was called and when they opened the till they realised that I had indeed paid with a £10 note. No apology followed, only a shrug. I am not going to say I am a victim of anything, but genuinely concerned about the future of the working class young male who could soon be hounded from public life and made to feel lost and confused in a society which gives them little hope of good jobs, housing or financial support compared to other groups, or just misrepresented, stereotyped and written off altogether.

The new feminists are now attacking the original feminists in their radical approach unsatisfied until their goal to turn all men into weak and wobbly stay at homes, have taken over as CEO's in all the FTSE 100 companies and ensured that gender neutral toilet signs are erected.in every public area. Talking of which, I see you haven't been too offended by Alan's toilet humour but fear not. Scooby Doo Thomas and other ardant remainers poking fun at people who voted Brexit might get their comeuppance if they do get their wishes of a second referendum and the result goes the same way, or if people see that the elites are clearly pulling another fast one over public opinion in favour of themselves. There is a clear feeling among many that these politicians have completely lost touch with voters and they can pretend all they like that leaving the EU means simply staying in, in all but name, but I can assure you that if this is the road they take they will have one major 'poop storm' on their hands.

Most kind of you to treat fellow readers to your memories of poo-bags and your expert use of these essential items. I no longer have a dog and thus have failed to keep up with the more modern versions (bags, that is) but from the state of local pavements it seems their use has diminished. Whether this is due to higher prices or a further lowering of public standards, I really don't know.

What I have also noticed is that, possibly in line with increases in human obesity, dog sizes have also increased, resulting in greater output and larger bags than was the case in earlier years.

Actually I think Mrs. Leadsom, suggested being a mother gave her another insight to things. Which I agree with. Not least in the services we have to use, medical, health visitors, schooling etc. As I've found being a grandma does, along with age and experience that comes with it.
It was just seized on by the offended on our behalf by females on TV and in in certain papers, who often don't represent the ordinary female.
A mountain out of a molehill. Very effect though.

Now poo bags, well I'm am expert there on use of a poo bag and a small dog. I use food bags on a roll, one puts one's hand in, for readiness, I can expertly tell when one is needed, (must be all those nappy changing years with terry nappies and disposable) and catch it and turn inside out. Have a pretty high success rate of speed in tying it up. A nice quick clean movement and if I see a bin will put it in or take it home and dispose of it.
In fact when my grandson's were little we had another dog, (lived until 17) called Scooby Doo.
I was affectionately known as Nanny Doo Doo.
Hope this helps Martin and Alan.

"If the moderator did not so think, or any other reader, for that matter, think so, then I am left to conclude it's those 'bees in the bonnet',"

I'm glad you can read into the mind's of other contributors Alan, one does not have to state their disapproval for it to exist, but I suppose we've been reminded before about your abilities as a psychic medium who can predict the economic fortunes of Brexit (before it even takes place). In truth, I am not offended by this remark, I just found it a bit odd in the choice of phrase - your insults are usually more witty. I know that you 'liberals' are the experts at seeking to be offended by such things so I thought I might turn the tables on you for once but as per usual, it's water off a duck's back and obviously the same rules don't apply for me.

I believe we are fast approaching the point where Brexit is either won or lost with no gray area in between. Let's wait and see the outcome of the membership vote of the SPD ans see whether or not they endorse their party's decision to prop up Ma Merkel for a final term of office. Should they veto that decision then Merkel is toast and without Germany the EU project will be dead in the water. In the event of this much hoped for outcome by Brexiteers like myself let's see how humorous you find Brexit then.

@ Alan, "Please clarify what it was in my comment that brought you out in such a righteous hot flush"

I think the quote goes something like this..."then Boris and his close mate Michael fell out., leaving both in a poo-bag"

Some could find such language rather repugnant but what I'm more interested in is the comment, "You couldn't make it up". Of course you could, and they (the government) often do, especially when it comes to Brexit - they are experts at making it up as they go along, or whether it's the treasury figures or whichever candidate is the next Betfred favourite to replace the dead duck PM!

Exactly, £1.500 for a £2 pot of moisturiser for Alan to slap on! And we wonder where our taxes are going and why there's a black hole in the funding. Then there's the ludicrous compensation culture, again born out of political correctness. They can laugh about Brexit as much as they like but this is the real joke and it's on us, but they may be laughing on the other side of their faces when people, as they did in the referendum, start to figure out what's going on here in rip-off Britain and who is making the big numbers on the back of conning the public and telling us we all need to stump up more tax so they can throw it down a grid. Sheer incompetence but what's the alternative, Labour who want even more of this wastage and people who can't round up to the nearest million? I give up.

Apologies, I previously said among the worst people in politics were Soubry and Hazarika, I forgot about Emily Thornburg. How easy it would be to be a politician like her. A loud, talentless, jobsworth who simply says whatever she thinks people want to hear with no thought for fact, reason or logic. Her whole charade is based on throwing other people's money at everything from the NHS to foreign aid to funding stupid military interventions, a typical Labour elite. The problem with this country is when people.like this get into power with their genius economic strategy of borrow more and produce less. Ticking boxes and filling forms is all that is important to Thornbury and co. If they had their way no one would ever have time to manufacture products, pack goods or serve customers, we would be buried so far in bureaucracy that it would make Brexit admin look like a cake walk.

Martin
David Cameron's, "Hug a Hoody"....it's not the hoody stage they need a hug. It's the input in the years before that count. It's damage limitation by then.

NHS. On Sky news an NHS spokesperson talked of 80.000 A&E admissions now as opposed to 13,000 it was either 2010 or 2011. that's a lot of extra people.
They could do with a new buyer too. The daft prices they pay for cream and gloves.
I see J R Mogg has just handed a petition in about too much foriegn aid and wastage. Gets my vote.
I wouldn't vote for Dianne Abbott or Ms Soubry, but genuine criticism is one thing. Being incompetent on figures..
The trouble is too many people can't articulate properly and frustration builds up becuase they feel they aren't listened to.
Not only that I've seen how little respect is shown on telly, film, soaps and film. The comedy is slanted toward ridiculing Brexit.
Talk of lynching a Minister and chopping up and freezing a Prime Minister..then they have new rules on code of behaviours with complaints of inappropriate touching etc. perhaps they'll tackle that later.
If Mrs. May wants to stop coarsening of language, which I have observed in my 63 years, then telly and film and comedy shows could be a good starting base. Plus teaching manners and respect in school.
Less hugging hoodies, may be needed.

I think the most likely suspect in modern times to be carrying a bayonet is your buddy Blair. We can jeer or mock some of the crude behaviour or language used in the 1940's or Churchill etc. but at least they were fighting a genuine threat - not a non-existent one they plucked from the realms of Neverland to cover up their real, sinister motives for blitzing cities full of innocent people.

C. Morrison: Well, of course there's nothing remotely illogical about disapproving of Freemason lodges at Westminister AND likewise disapproving of Common Purpose and the Henry Jackson Society. Quite the reverse in my view.

Oh, no, no thrice times no. Less Clive Dunn (Dad's Army) more Charlie Chaplin (Modern Times) in my less than humble opinion. Please allow me to explain. Ellen, Charlie's 'squeeze' (the role played by Paulette Goddard) despairs that there's no point to their struggling, but Charlie assures her that they'll make it somehow. In the final scene, they walk down a road at dawn, towards an uncertain but hopeful future.

For people like Alan, who have clearly lost the plot, I recommend they search Modern Times - Wiki to refresh their faultering memories.

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